This project documents specific experiences of censorship and how widespread it is in the art museum field. The project examines how these experiences differ based on region, type of museum (e.g., university vs. private), etc. The survey  also attempts to collect instances of state and self-censorship and determine whether, and if so to what extent, a chilling effect has been created among art museums. A survey analysis narrativizes these findings and gestures toward next steps for addressing the issues it documents. This project aims to make the field aware of the current polarization to be found across the United States and how censorship and threats to free speech can and will affect cultural organization’s missions. 

The National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) is a professional organization that serves the US Latino arts and cultural sector via funding, leadership training, convenings, research, and advocacy. The grant supports NALAC’s first regional workshop in Chicago, an event tailored to the needs and interests of area artists/administrators across disciplines but also designed to promote national connections. Workshop plans and content are informed by a local advisory committee and findings from a survey of Latinx/e arts workers to understand how the convening can add value to the Chicago area, as well as grasp what skills and information are needed and who are the potential speakers from whom respondents want to learn. 

Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA), a national professional organization that provides professional development and resources for arts grantmakers, is holding its annual conference in Chicago in October 2024. This grant offsets speaker fees. Shaped by a local committee, the conference comprises four days of sessions as well as cultural programs and tours at cultural sites identified by the committee. The critical goals of the conference are to advance racial equity in arts funding, connect funders to the larger national arts grantmaking ecosystem, and introduce funders from around the nation to local creative communities. 

CAA promotes the visual arts and their understanding through advocacy, intellectual engagement, and a commitment to the diversity of practices and practitioners. As the largest professional convening of artists, art historians, students, designers, curators, and visual art professionals in the United States for over a century, the CAA Annual Conference is a unique space for dialogue, engagement, and professional development in the field of American art.